Letter of Recommendation
by thecassassin
Summary: Rose Weasley thought the worst was seeing your archenemy and godawful boss sitting together, waiting for you. Now she knows better. The worst thing ever is Scorpius Malfoy announcing that you work for him now and that you owe him and must work off your 'debt to society' and 'his cleaning bill'. That is most definitely worse.
1. Prologue

Scorpius Malfoy was pretty used to women throwing themselves at him.

He was, after all, one of the most attractive men he knew, something the wizarding world strongly agreed with (He and Al were on their third year of competing for the title of Britain's Sexiest Wizard of the Year). He was a star Quidditch player, and the owner of a successful potion supply business. There was never any lack of female attention surrounding him. Even in Hogwarts there had been plenty of witches, many of them older than him, willing to risk the reputation of his family name and spend the darkest hours of the night tucked away in secret alcoves with him. The attention had only increased as he entered adulthood and joined the Falmouth Falcons. The white and dark grey robes did something to his blond hair and grey eyes that seemed to mystify women better than any love potion. Plus, Scorpius's habit of playing with finesse and elegance among his brutal team mates had rapidly become the number one reason for damp kickers among female Quidditch fans nationwide. This only got more intense when he was chosen as a Beater for and International Team. It was about that point that women began throwing themselves at him on a global scale. He'd received owls from as far away as Australia and Timbuktu. There'd been everything from offers of quickies behind medical tents to demands of marriage. And, alright, the attention made him a flirt. And a serial dater. And some would even venture far enough to say he was a womanizer. All those allegations were founded on good, strong bases. Yes, he could agree with all of them. But they weren't his fault. It was only natural to switch from woman to woman when there were so many ready to go a round. Which sounded back when he thought about it, but luckily, he was very good at not thinking about it.

The point was, Scorpius Malfoy was exceptionally good at handling a situation in which a woman threw herself at him. However, he was most definitely not prepared for the physical assault launched by one very drunk Rose Weasley.

In fact, he was so unprepared that he didn't fully grasp what was happening until Rose Weasley herself landed in his arms. He caught her more out of self defense than anything. He wasn't even looking her way when she came hurtling towards him. All he had time to absorb was a flash of bright red and then she was crashing into him. The impact nearly brought him to the floor. It took all he had to brace himself and cradle the very female body against his without breaking her. And then, and only then, did he realize that he was holding his most hated enemy.

His first thought was, of course, that Rose had bumped into him quite by accident and that he should send her on her merry way with a stinging insult and possibly a stinking jinx. But before he could think up a really good one, it became glaringly obvious that she was in fact looking for him.

"YOU," she slurred rather charmingly, "ARE RUINING MY LIFE FOR MERLIN'S SAKE!"

Scorpius coughed once. Then twice. Then he shifted his arms. But Rose seemed quite content to stay right where she was and yell at him.

"YOU, SCORPIUS MALFOY, ARE THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE! I HATE YOU! I LOATH THE GROUND YOU WALK ON!"

Scorpius gave up on being polite. He gracefully tossed Rose off him and onto the nearest bar stool, thanking his lucky stars and any deity listening that the bar ( _okay, so it was more of a nightclub type thing)_ was loud enough to mask Rose's deranged screaming. She continued said screaming as he calmly ordered himself the strongest possible drink from the bartender. Then, and only then, did Scorpius turn around and try to listen to Rose's rant.

"-AND FURTHERMORE, YOUR DISGUSTING FACE IS THE ONLY THING I EVER HEAR ABOUT! I CAN'T EVEN ESCAPE YOU IN MY OWN HOME?!"

Scorpius motioned to the bartender to leave the bottle.

"PLUS, YOU'VE RUINED MY CAREER! MY MANAGER SAYS I'M OUT OF A JOB IF I CAN'T GET YOU TO ENDORSE OUR FUCKING POTIONS WHICH OF COURSE YOU WON'T DO BECAUSE YOU HAVE MORALS ABOUT SAFETY MEASURES REGARDING POTIONS AND THE SPORTS INDUSTRY!"

Scorpius took a hefty sip and waited for the next round of screaming. But Rose, it seemed, was screamed out. She grabbed the very expensive bottle of top shelf liquor by the neck and took a ginormous gulp. Then she stared at Scorpius like she was expecting him to do something about it. So he did.

First, he pried the bottle out of her fingers (no small feat, mind you. The witch had a grip of steel when it came to alcohol), then he leaned in close enough to be heard without shouting, "What the bloody fuck are you talking about, Weasel Queen?"

Rose kind of wavered back and forth on her stool, with a hand raised and a finger pointing towards Scorpius. Just when he thought she was going to pass out, she leaned too far forwards and poked him hard in the chest, still shouting, "WELL! For one, your business morals are really fucking me over. And the fact that my boss is obsessed with you is fucking me five ways from Friday. And Lily's fucking fangirl crush on you is fucking me up the ass, too!"

Normally, Scorpius tried very hard not to think the words 'Rose' and 'fucking' in the same sentence. It typically led to dangerous waters for him. Waters in which all the blood in his head mysteriously left and went on a southern vacation. Waters in which he woke up from some very vivid dreams that his waking self considered vaguely disturbing. So no, Scorpius did not particularly enjoy combining Rose's name and any variation of the word 'fuck'.

But who was he to ignore Rose when she was talking? If she wanted to remind him several ways in which the word could be used, who was he to stop her? Plus, it didn't hurt that her damn dress hugged every curve she had.

And so, Scorpius sat at the bar and stared determinedly at the ceiling while Rose leaned far enough forward that Scorpius could see some very interesting bits of her if he so chose while she poked him in the chest and slurred on and on about how everything was his fault. In fact, he got so comfortable staring at the ceiling that he didn't notice the first time the bartender coughed. He didn't notice the second time either. But by the third time, Rose had abruptly shut up, so he heard the poor man quite clearly when he awkwardly cleared his throat.

When Scorpius turned his head and raised an eyebrow, the man uncomfortably looked at Rose out of the corner of his eye. Scorpius turned his head to the side to see that Rose had slumped right over onto the bar.

 _Dear Merlin, he should have taken that bottle away earlier. Now she's going to die of alcohol poisoning and her ghost will come back and haunt him and he'll never hear the end of it._

Scorpius was afraid of few things, but the thought of Rose Weasley's ghost haunting him forever stuck a definite note of terror in his soul. But just when he was resigning himself to a life of semi-visible Rose following him around, the woman herself gave a low groan and mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like, "I'm going to vomit."

Or that's what Scorpius thought, "Ermgoonavermont," meant. Either way, he had to distance himself from her immediately. He stood up to do so, and considered leaving. But sadly, the bartender caught his eye and gave him a stern look. Scorpius had to admit that leaving a drunk Rose Weasley alone at a bar full of men with dubious intentions was an act too villainous, even for him. So, with a sigh, he scooped her up, plopped her on her own two feet, and wrapped a loose arm around her waist to drag her towards the Apparition point.

* * *

Scorpius Malfoy was covered in vomit when he set his two feet on the floor of his entrance. He was furious.

Rose Weasley had not a spec of semi-digested food anywhere on her. She was still morbidly drunk.

* * *

The second Scorpius had Rose settled firmly on solid ground, he ran for the bathroom, stripping off his shirt as he went. There was semi-digested pineapple on his fucking clothes. And what he prayed was spaghetti in his hair. His _hair_! He'd never been so disgusted in his life. What is Merlin's name had made him think that taking an obscenely drunk woman somewhere using Apparition was a good idea? The wench had even said she was feeling nauseous!

Scorpius stuck his head under the faucet in the sink of his bathroom and turned it on full blast. Then he prayed to anyone listening that water would be enough to force the slimy noodles out of his hair because _Merlin knew he wasn't touching that shit with his actual hands._

Just when Scorpius was contemplating burning his hair off and starting anew, he noticed a pair of small, bare feet next to his sink. Without turning the water off, he turned his head and glared at Rose Weasley, growling, "What the bloody fuck do you think you're looking at, Weasel Wench?"

Rose tilted her own head to the side and grouched, "This is what I'm fucking talking about! Lily goes on and on about how great you look without a shirt on and just when I manage to convince myself she's blowing smoke, I see this and know that she's right! How is this even fair?! No one should be allowed to have a body like that when they already have such a pretty face! It isn't right!"

Scorpius physically could not stop the smirk. It seemed to aggravate Rose even more.

"Seriously? The smirk?! Is there anything you can't pull off?!"

Scorpius turned off the faucet and faced Rose head on, arms crossed, wet hair pushed back, and excess water dripping down his torso. Rose was practically livid.

"Oh, Merlin's old bent dick, now you're just trying to be awful! This is all the more proof that you're deliberately trying to destroy my life!"

Scorpius raised an eyebrow and be the least amount of condescending possible, "Remind me, love, how exactly I'm doing that?"

Rose paused. She raised a hand. She flapped it up and down a few times like a mellow dramatic teenager or a sassy housewife, "Okay. Okay, okay, okay. Where to start. First off, I'm gonna need a glass of wine or vodka for this or something, because this is a doozy of a story. You will not _believe_ the shit I have to go through because of you!"

And with that, she turned on her heel and flounced off in the direction of the living room. Scorpius heard her bump into what sounded like the wall of his hallway, the couch, and he listened with a wince to the sounds of glass shattering. That was most likely the crystal goblet his aunt Daphne had given him. It was horrendously ugly, and would be a fantastic mess to clean up.

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF MERLIN'S CRUSTY LEFT TESTICLE GAVE YOU PERMISSION TO CUT ME?"

It seemed Rose was helping clean up the crystal. With her bare feet.

Scorpius sighed and wandered out to the living room to see Rose sitting next to a tidy pile of shards, glaring at them. It took everything in him to not laugh. As it was, he managed to pass a few chuckles off as coughs as he levitated the shards to the garbage and took a seat on the couch. He motioned to Rose to sit beside him, but she remained on the floor.

"Weasley, why're you sitting on your arse in the middle of my living room when there's a perfectly good couch not two feet away?"

"I would move but your stupid cup thing cut my foot and it _hurts_!" She crossed her arms and glared at her foot and the garbage where the crystal has disappeared. Her hair kind of fell in front of her eyes and she most definitely stuck her bottom lip out.

It was fucking adorable in a weird kind of way.

Something in Scorpius's soul shifted and _since when had he given himself permission to find anything Rose did adorable?_

But he did. She was sitting on his floor, glaring and cradling her foot, and looking goddamn adorable doing it. And when he snorted, she looked up at him like a lost puppy and if he wasn't quite mistaken, tears (actual real _tears_ ) were gleaming there.

So, he did what any decent person would do in that sort of situation. He slid off the couch, knelt next to Rose, scooped her up, and set her on the couch. Then he sat next to her, pulled her feet into his lap, and murmured, "Here. Let me see."

Rose pouted, but let him maneuver her leg so he could see the bottom of her foot without completely exposing her knickers. Thankfully, there was only one large shard sticking out of the fleshy bit of her arch, and it was easily removed. Then, in what he could only describe as a moment of weakness, Scorpius gently kissed her foot and laid it back down across his knees, saying, "There. All better."

Rose sighed and nestled her head into the back of the couch. With a gargantuan yawn, she muttered, "You're still ruining my life."

"Oh, yes. You were going to tell me about that."

"Well, to start, my arsehole of a boss wants me to get you to endorse our product as a Quidditch player, and wants you to fund a new product. But of course, you're not an idiot, and you know the way Faulkner makes potions means harvesting too many plants and not restoring them. And it means black market deals for the rare ones. Plus, you also know that the majority of our products are illegal enhancers. And of course, you have morals about sports and potions. Merlin knows why. Those are the two weirdest things to have morals about."

"Not really. Sports should be honest, and it's just your business I hate. Keep in mind that I know your boss makes some unfortunate substitutions in his potions. Ones that are infinitesimally dangerous for witches and wizards."

"True. But either way, if I can't get one lousy endorsement from you, I'll lose my job. Never mind that I'm the best publicist they have. Never mind that I invented most of those potions. Never mind that my family funded the start up. Never mind that I told Faulkner that you wouldn't do it because of the morals thing," Rose threw her hands up in the air and let them fall back onto her lap in the most defeated manner Scorpius had ever seen.

Scorpius frowned, "Your boss is firing you for not getting one specific endorsement? I'm pretty sure that's illegal, Weasley."

"You would think so, but he's managed to spin it so that I look like the jealous girlfriend who wants the whole business. He gets everything when it comes down to it."

Scorpius frowned harder, "You're dating him?"

Rose scowled, "No! Not any more. We were when we started. But not anymore. Anyway. That's not the only way you're screwing things up for me. Lily is half in love with you. She has these posters of you all over the place and you're half-naked in most of them. And she will not shut up about you! She's even trying to convince Al to invite you over for the summer so she can, quote – unquote, 'seduce you with her wily charms'."

"And this is an issue because…?"

"Well obviously, she keeps telling me she saw you first and so she gets you, but I went to school with you for a whole year before her! Who does she think she is, calling dibs?!"

Scorpius froze so fast that he thought he might have locked something in his back. Granted, this wasn't the kind of confession he had dreamed about in seventh year (no, those confessions involved either a lot more or a lot less alcohol and far fewer clothes,) but it was still a confession. Of course, Rose was ridiculously drunk, so…

Oh, right. Rose was ridiculously drunk. She didn't know what she was saying. In fact, she'd already switched topics back to her godawful boss.

"-and he keeps threatening me with lawsuits. All because of your dumb face! He's convinced I have a thing for you or something. He's the most jealous man I've ever seen! What a prick."

Scorpius tried to casually ask, "Well, do you?"

"Do I what?" Rose's eyes were starting to droop closed, but Scorpius had to know, damnit.

"Do you have a thing for me?"

"Well of course I do!" _his heart damn near stopped for a full minute as she yawned,_ "What red-blooded witch _doesn't_ have a thing for you?! It's downright nauseating!"

With that, Rose snuggled right into the arm of Scorpius's couch and started snoring very loudly. Scorpius sat at the other end, with her feet on his lap ( _and his hand on her ankles? When did that happen?)_ , stunned. He could hardly guess what Rose had been thinking, telling him she fancied him a bit.

Okay, to be fair, he did ask. So she was just answering. And she was drunk. And there was no way he was letting himself get worked up over this, even though _Rose fucking Weasley just admitted to fancying him!_ But he was cool. This was okay. This was fine. He was fine. He wasn't flustered. What even was this flustered? He didn't know.

Rose tilted her head too far away from the back of the couch and almost feel off the whole thing. She let out a snort and a kind of strangled cough thing, and it was with that pseudo-hairball sound, Scorpius's heart and soul came crashing back into reality.

It wasn't real. Everyone knew that drunk people were honest about everything except love. Scorpius himself knew well that it was obscenely easy to lie about love while drunk. He'd accidentally given false hope to several fangirls while in a similar state of inebriation. So really, it would be unfair to hold Rose to her confession.

So, with a heavy heart and a frown, Scorpius shifted Rose's feet off his lap, put on his shoes, and maneuvered Rose to the fireplace. He tossed in a handful of Floo powder and said sadly, "Big Red's House!" (Rose really did have a knack for naming things).

He tucked her in under a blanket on her couch, gave her a kiss on the forehead ( _because even though he was a gentleman he couldn't fucking help himself, she looked so goddamn adorable_ ), and left.

Once back at his flat, he sat himself down and wrote two letters that changed his life forever.


	2. Chapter 1

Rose Weasley was alarmingly used to coming into work with a killer hangover.

It wasn't that she was an alcoholic or that no one had told her it was bad form to drink on a work night. Because they definitely had. Multiple times. Loudly. Almost everyone she knew had told her that drinking the night before going into work was a bad idea. So no, Rose was not simply ignorant in her decision making. The real issue was a combination of how absolutely shit her job was and what a gigantic wanker her boss was.

See, Rose never ever drank on weeknights. She didn't drink on Sunday nights. The only nights she drank were Friday and Saturday, and she didn't drink on both those nights in the same week. However, it would appear that her arsehole of a boss didn't understand the concept of having weekends off from work. Which was really an issue because Rose's job was so awful that sometimes the only thing that made it semi bearable was the knowledge that she could get shit-faced on the weekend.

Which was what she had been doing last night. During the appropriate hours, on the appropriate day, a Friday night. But now she was a work. On a Saturday, at seven in the fucking morning, earlier than she regularly came in.

In short, she was not best pleased.

She was also pretty miffed about the fact that she didn't really recall what she'd done last night. She knew for sure that she'd yelled at someone. Violently, and for quite a while. She also knew that it had felt bloody _amazing,_ but she could not, for the life of her, remember who received the brunt of her rage. She really hoped it hadn't been someone she knew personally, because she didn't really fancy trying to apologize for something that made her feel better.

Or...or, maybe she'd yelled at her boss while drunk. That would be pretty fucking awful. He was just the type of man who would call her in to work early the night after she drunk-yelled at him. In fact, he was the kind of man who would fire her for something like drunk-yelling. Rose was pretty sure she had more sense than to yell at her boss, even when drunk, but just in case she should probably get her apology ready. But she wouldn't need that, right? Because it was illegal to fire someone when they didn't remember what they did, right?!

"WEASLEY! IN MY OFFICE!"

Oh bugger! Buggering fuckation! She might as well pack her bags and leave now!

Rose dragged her feet across the carpet to the semi-open door of Oliver Faulkner's office with all the enthusiasm of a dog who knows it's going to the veterinarian. But she remembered to hold her posture rigid. Any sign of weakness could cost her her job, and she could not allow that., though she didn't really know why.

Rose hated her job. She was a publicist for Faulkner's Fine Potions. Her job was to bribe, trick, threaten, and bully the famous and semi-famous witches and wizards of the world into endorsing Faulkner's lackluster and dangerous potions. A few years ago, when she'd started her job, she hadn't minded so much. Back then, the shop had a solid reputation of being safe and effective. Stars didn't need much incentive to recommend the potions. Many of them wanted to be affiliated with a successful company. But now, with a reputation dirtier than the bottom of a public loo, Rose had to blackmail stars. Which she wasn't even that good at. Plus, the looks on people's faces when they realized she had them cornered were enough to make her hate herself.

But she most definitely needed to pay her bills. She kept promising herself she'd search for a new job. She just never seemed to get around it it. So she was not going to be losing her job with no other options. She just needed Faulkner to take mercy on her.

With her head down, she shuffled into the office and barely noticed the extra pair of shoes by the desk. It was just like Faulkner to fire her in front of another person. But maybe he'd try and look merciful by forgiving her. The best she could do was focus on her red hair in front of her face and pray. It wasn't until a voice that she remembered and hated drawled, "Oh for Merlin's sake, Faulkner, do you beat her or something?"

Rose's head snapped up to see a furious Faulkner standing behind his desk while a calm and cold Scorpius Malfoy sat leaning in his chair in front of the desk, inspecting his nails. He glanced at Faulkner and rolled his eyes, "Oh don't look so offended. It was a joke. I admire your ability to keep your employees in line."

Rose hadn't seen Scorpius since Hogwarts, but it appeared that the hatred he inspired in her had not lessened. Not by one iota. Rose scowled at Scorpius until Faulkner cleared his throat and gave her a wolfish smile. He motioned towards the small wooden chair at the corner of his desk, where he usually had Rose sit. She sank down into the chair and waited for her doom. She was sure Faulkner had something truly awful planned for her.

She sound have been watching Scorpius though. He was the one who turned to her and said with a smirk, "You work for me now, Weasel Queen."

 _'I do fucking not'_ was a bloody good answer in Rose's head, but she figured it wouldn't be a great idea to say that in front of her boss. So instead, she just stared at Scorpius like he'd lost his mind and hoped he got the message. He apparently didn't, because he kept grinning like the deranged, slightly evil ferret-boy that he was. So Rose switched the staring blankly at Faulkner.

But if Rose had been hoping for mercy, she should have stuck with Scorpius, because Faulkner looked practically giddy as he said, "Mr. Malfoy tells me that you had a run in last night while you were rather, shall we say...inebriated? Now, you know I can't have my employees sullying my good name like that. Ordinarily, I would have no choice but to fire you. However, luckily for you, Mr. Malfoy is willing to have you fill a temporary position at his firm until a permanent employee can be found. In exchange, he will keep quiet about your unfortunate faux-pas."

Rose was pretty sure her mouth was hanging open. Of course it was him. _Of fucking course she ran into the one person who could ruin her career the fastest!_ Of course she drunk-yelled at the only person she knew who had the brains and the malice to completely ruin her! Bloody hell, she was going to die if she had to word for Scorpius fucking Malfoy.

But wait. 'If' was the key word here, wasn't it? Surely Faulkner wouldn't send her away. Even he wasn't dumb enough to convince himself that he didn't need her! She was the best publicist he had! She made him successful! There was no way on God's green earth that Faulkner was going to risk losing her to the enemy!

But just as Rose came to the realization that her job was safe, Scorpius Malfoy spoke up.

"Don't even think about it, Weasel Queen. Faulkner and I have a certain...understanding. You will be working for me, and if you refuse, you will be fired. And blacklisted. You'll never work as a publicist again."

 _Rose was not entirely convinced that was a bad thing. Except that she hadn't done anything else in years. It would take a time she didn't have to retrain herself to be anything other than a hired publicity thug. So maybe not a great idea right now. But definitely on the to-do list._

Faulkner piped up too, "It's all very legal. All in the contract you signed. Your career belongs to me, and I can do with it as I please."

Now, there was a time when Rose might have fought that. There was time when she might have yelled at Faulkner and at Malfoy, too. She probably would have thrown some things around, maybe sworn a little (or, you know, a lot), and then quit. She would have had no trouble finding herself a new job with people she actually liked.

But Rose didn't do any of that. She just assumed that Faulkner was correct and she had, at some point, sold her soul to the devil. So, really, there was nothing left for her to do except look away from both men so they wouldn't see her cry. Instead, she just stood up and left the office to get her things.

* * *

Rose hadn't realized how little she had in her office until right this very second.

She was currently holding one half full cardboard box with two more empty ones at her feet. The box currently contained exactly:

\- one medium sized mug (complete with coffee rings staining the inside from going too long between washes)

\- one large travel mug that smelled like old tea (not completely disgusting, but not great)

\- a manila folder with a doodle on the cover and no paper in it (the papers that used to reside in it were articles that Rose was planing on using to blackmail Malfoy, but she didn't really need them now. But she did need that doodle. It was bloody marvelous. It was a picture of Faulkner with an especially big nose that made Rose's day a little better every time she saw it)

\- a copy of Rose's contract with Faulkner's Fine Potions (and a mental note to go through it as thoroughly as possible to weed out any clause that might free her from her prison sentence)

\- a tiny Kleenex box with single ply tissues (they were pretty fucking shit, and the box said 'FAULKNER'S FINE POTIONS' on the sides.)

\- a shoe (Rose wasn't even sure that was hers, but she was taking it).

That was it. All of Rose's time in this tiny office could be summed up in six items, one of which probably didn't even belong to her (it was a man's shoe). She couldn't go out like this! She needed more stuff! How could she make Faulkner aware of the huge hole she was leaving if she wasn't actually leaving a hole?! Clearly, she needed to start stealing office supplies out of spite. That was a good plan. That would show bloody Faulkner what he was doing!

In a sudden rage, Rose grabbed the stapler off her desk and just when she was about to nestle it into her box beside her new shoe, she heard someone cough. Pointedly.

Whipping around, she found Scorpius fucking Malfoy standing in her doorway with his arms crossed across his chest and his ankles crossed one over the other. Still not over her rage, she pointed the stapler at him and said, " _YOU!"_

He did not look as threatened as she wanted him to. In fact, he looked a little amused as he drawled, "Yes, me. Your new boss, remember?"

Rose didn't think she could form words, she was so angry. But that had never stopped her from talking before.

"YOU ABSOLUTE, GIGANTIC FUCKWAD OF A PERSON! YOU DYSFUNCTIONAL, PISS-POOR IMITATION OF A TROLL'S ARSE HOLE! WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU, RUINING MY JOB?! I'LL TELL YOU WHO YOU ARE! YOU ARE, WITHOUT A DOUBT, THE MOST DISGUSTING, UGLIEST, SICK, TWISTED LITTLE GOB OF GREMLIN SHIT THAT I HAVE EVER SEEN!"

Scorpius raised one eyebrow, "My, such language from a lady," he tilted his head to the side, "are you a connoisseur of gremlin excrement?"

Rose was so angry that she started to shake. Her voice went from a yell to a deathly whisper, "Do _not_ talk to me like that, Malfoy."

Scorpius put a hand on his chest and raised his eyebrows in a perfect imitation of shock, but his eyes were dancing as he gasped, "I'm sure I don't know what you mean, Weasel Queen."

"You know _exactly_ what I mean! Don't act so high and mighty, like you didn't just essentially buy me off of Faulkner!"

Scorpius dropped the act and leaned forward, his lips twitching up in a condescending smirk, "And if I don't adhere to your wishes? What then, sweetheart? What could you possibly do to me?"

"I'll...I'll...THIS!"

Rose raised the stapler, flipped it open, and clicked it as fast as she could. Several staples flew towards Scorpius and made it halfway to his face before falling to the carpet.

When the stapler was empty, Rose dropped and turned her back on Scorpius. Rose had always been an angry crier, and she was _not_ going to let Scorpius see her tears. But she was most definitely going to cry, so with as much strength as she could manage, she said, "Get out of my office. I'll be along soon. I just need to finish packing."

 _Her voice didn't break in the middle of every sentence. It didn't._

She expected more of a fight from Scorpius, but all she heard was a few seconds of silence, then the sound of a pocket watch opening and snapping shut, Scorpius muttering, "Five minutes Weasel Queen," and then the sound of an expensive shoe twisting on cheap carpet as he turned to leave.

As soon as she was sure he was out of the room, Rose sniffled twice and took a final look around the tiny cubicle she called home. The last thing she did before leaving was write a short note to the other publicist, Suzy Thirmare, explaining that Rose had found a new job and that everything Suzy needed was in the folders in the desk. She wrote that she hoped Suzy enjoyed her new office.

Then Rose mustered her courage and her box and left her office at Faulkner's Fine Potions for the last time.

* * *

When Rose shuffled up to the front doors of the building, Scorpius was already waiting, pocket watch in hand, tapping his foot. Rose thought he looked like he was from another era, but that he had probably been a absolute tosser in that time, too.

With a scowl on her face, she walked past him and out the doors, turning towards her apartment. But just when she thought she was going to escape, Scorpius drawled, "And where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going home, Malfoy. It's Saturday."

"No, you're going to my office. I work on Saturday, which means you work on Saturday. You are my assistant now."

"Tough. I haven't signed my contract yet, and we haven't discussed payment or hours. So I don't have to be at work right now, or at all until that's sorted."

"Then you won't be payed."

Rose stopped walking. Because she did need to be payed, and soon. Her next pay check was due from Faulkner in two days (Rose made a mental note to write a strongly worded letter to Faulkner about severance pay), and her rent was due in a week. Plus she needed groceries, because Lily never, ever shopped.

Scorpius interrupted Rose's list of money-gobbling obligations in his usual prick-ish manner, "That's what I thought. Now, be a good little assistant and try to keep up with me."

He turned and walked the exact opposite direction. Rose had to run to catch up before he turned the corner. He started talking well before she was ready to listen, "Now, I need you to owl Richard and reschedule my appointment, cancel my order of flowers for Miss Oledair, make room in my schedule for dinner with my mother tomorrow night at seven, and have Longbottom send over those samples a day early. Got that?"

"No."

"Then I suggest you figure out how to use a Pensieve, because I won't be repeating myself."

He glanced at Rose out of the corner of his eye, like he was checking to see if she'd given up yet. And right at that moment, even though she had been planning on giving up immediately, she found some speck of her Gryffindor pig-headedness and nodded once. Rose thought Scorpius looked a little disappointed at that, but then he looked away and she was sure she imagined it. He motioned to a tiny building hidden between a pub and a second hand shop and said, "Malfoy Incorporated. Drop your things in the entrance and be back on Monday and seven sharp. We will discuss your hours and pay then. In the meantime, Amy has all the papers you need to rearrange my schedule. Do that before five o'clock tonight or you will be fired. Good night Weasel Queen."

He walked inside the building with a pompous amount of grace (in Rose's opinion), and let the door shut behind him. Rose took a deep breath, sifted her box to one arm, and followed.


	3. Chapter 2

Rose had never gotten over how magic could hide a bloody huge building inside a tiny exterior. It fucked her up every time. For example, Malfoy Incorporated. Rose had walked into the quaint-looking building expecting to see a small entrance, perhaps with a desk and a secretary, and a hallway leading to a safe room for product testing. Instead, she opened to door to a huge metal ant farm.

There were people _everywhere._ Some of them were wearing green Mediwitch robes and rushing off somewhere looking worried, some were wearing Muggle clothes and carrying papers towards a bank of elevators. Some of them were wearing thick safety goggles and carrying small black boxes with what looked like heavy looking charms on top of Muggle locks. Those witches and wizards looked the most serious and worried. And in the midst of it all was a tall, long glass desk with a bored-looking blonde behind it.

That was clearly the place to be, so Rose hefted her box up and shuffled over.

It took three obnoxiously loud coughs for the blonde to even look at Rose. And when she finally did, she waved a hand dismissively and said, "Deliveries go in the back door. Especially if they're explosive or experimental."

Rose didn't move. She was actually frozen in place. She'd read about this kind of thing happening, but she's never thought it would really happen to her. This was a big deal. This...this was actually quite exhilarating. Rose had never thought she'd be one to be excited when people ignored her, but clearly she needed to do some more soul searching. Who knew what else she would discover about herself!

The blonde narrowed her eyes at Rose, "Did you need me to sign for something? Because there's someone at the backdoor who takes care of that."

When Rose still didn't move, the blonde's hand inched towards her wand on the corner of the desk. Rose was pretty sure that she was going to become well acquainted with Malfoy Incorporated's security if she didn't hurry up and say something, but the issue was she couldn't think of a single thing to say. After all, she wasn't even sure what her official position was now, never mind the fact that she was quietly thrilled that someone had actually thought she was delivering something that needed to go in the back door. And if she didn't even know what her position was, she would be willing to bet her teeth that Malfoy hadn't informed his desk wench of Rose's existence. So really, Rose was not going to be recognized as an employee anyway. Security goons it was.

(Rose was only a tiny bit gleeful at the prospect of getting thrown out of the office because Malfoy couldn't be bothered to tell the correct people when he hired someone new. She couldn't wait to file for worker's compensation if she was lucky enough to hurt herself)

But, in true Scorpius Malfoy fashion, a paper airplane arrived just as the blonde's fingers touched the wand.

Without taking her eyes off Rose, the blonde unfolded the paper and scanned it quickly. Rose scowled. She just _knew_ it was too good to be true. There was no way that note didn't say that she was officially hired. She wasn't getting thrown out on her ass today. Nope, she was going to have to actually _work with Scorpius Malfoy._

"Are you Rose Weasley?"

"Yes," The scowling intensified. The blonde behind the desk did not seem to appreciate it, but Rose did not appreciate Malfoy ruining her prospects of having an excuse to leave work, so she was not about to apologize to someone who looked just like a female Scorpius Malfoy.

The blonde still looked extremely suspicious, so Rose tried to reassure her, "I'm new."

Come to think of it, that was probably not the most reassuring thing ever. Rose should have said something about her long a prolific family line. That would show the snooty secretary she was sane.

However, said secretary beat Rose to the punch. Kind of. She didn't actually say anything about Rose's very famous parents. No, she said, "Well, what are you doing here? You know Scorpius didn't really hire you to be his personal assistant. I'm going to be promoted in a few weeks. He must have meant for you to be the secretary at the delivery entrance."

Part of Rose was honest to Merlin thrilled that this witch was talking about the mysterious delivery entrance again. Another part of Rose was simply thrilled that she might get into a fight today. If she was honest, Rose would have to say that she was dying to yell at someone and maybe throw some punches. After all, she'd had a very trying day and if she couldn't fight Faulkner, she would just have to fight some other bitch. But before she got to the ever exciting prospect of physical assault, Rose was going to give the verbal beat down of her life. Blondie the Secretarial Bitch better be wearing water proof mascara, because if she wasn't crying because of Rose's insults, she would be brought to tears by the sheer magnitude of being present for the tirade of the century.

"First off, you gnarled hag, I am the new personal assistant. Wanna know why? Because my jerkoff of a boss decided that, hey, maybe this is the 1800s and maybe his fat ass can just tell me what to do, so why not order me to just up and change jobs, not pay me severance, and just take my fucking company? That'd be a good idea, right? So here I am, working for this asswipe, Scorpius _fucking_ Malfoy, because he's a dirt rag who used my inebriated rage against me, because he's a ginormous fucking piece of slimy _shit_."

That was how the verbal beat down of the century was gonna go. Just like that. Exactly how she rehearsed it in her head. Okay, go time. Rose could do this. She was going to do this.

But of course, just when Rose was preparing to do exactly that, Scorpius Malfoy's annoyingly authoritative voice said, "Weasel Queen, what are you doing?"

 _"I'm going to cuss out your secretary, then I'm going home."_

"I'm, uh, I'm trying to drop my stuff off and get those papers you need me to deal with?"

 _(Rose was truly disappointed with how chicken shit she had become. Plus, Scorpius looked confused at her horrifically meek answer.)_

Rose decided that Malfoy's distinct look of confusion did not bode well. She was expecting him to tell her it was all a joke and that there was no job for her. That all he really wanted was to get her fired _and_ black listed so she could never work again and that she should just go home. But instead, he simply said, "I thought I told you to come up to the office and set up your desk, then go home."

 _Mental Note from Rose to Future Rose: Scorpius Malfoy, new boss, has multiple personality disorder and maybe a memory problem. Also potentially bipolar._

"I'm pretty sure you didn't, actually. In fact, you told me drop my stuff off and get to work or you'd fire me."

Malfoy smirked and winked at the wench behind the desk, "Does that sound like something I would do, Amy?"

She giggled like a school girl, "Of course not, Mr. Malfoy. You're _much_ too nice."

 _Rose threw up in her mouth a little there._

Malfoy nodded, "That's what I thought. Clearly my new assistant it delusional."

The sticky smile on 'Amy's' face dropped a little at the corners and she sneaked a glance at Rose out of the corner of her eyes, "Maybe you ought to promote me to assistant if she's unfit for the position," the smile was back in full force, and batting eyelashes were added.

 _Rose totally, **totally** saw Amy trying to sneakily pull down her blouse to show more of her fake tits. And if she could see it, Malfoy 110% saw that shit. _

Malfoy shook his head, "I tell you over and over Amy: personal assistant is a demotion, not a promotion. You're better off down here. Much less stressful. And Miss Weasley is perfectly fit for the position. Besides, her previous employer and I have unfinished business."

Rose had never been so confused and nervous all at once in her life. She knew there was a threat somewhere in there. She just didn't know who it was directed at. Did she cower in fear, or did she grin because Faulkner was going to get his ass kicked into next week?

In all honesty, it didn't matter either way. Rose had had e-fucking-nough. She needed to get away, job or no job. She could convince Lily to hold down the rent while she herself looked for some part time work. Probably. Her odds of doing that were better than making it out of Malfoy Incorporated alive. So Rose set her little moving box on the shiny glass desk and nodded along to whatever Scorpius and his secretary were talking about now. She sneakily backed away bit by bit. Just a few more steps and…she…was…go!

She whirled around and sprinted towards the front doors.

She heard the secretary huff and call after her in a horribly nasal voice, "Um, miss? You can't leave your things here!"

She also heard a sound far more terrifying than any blonde bitch's voice. It was the sound of Scorpius Malfoy running after her. It kind of sounded like a train of doom heading straight towards you. It had magical properties that made you run faster than you ever had in your life. Sadly, Rose was well acquainted with this particular sound, as she used to dye his hair (or, you know, cut it off completely) during her Hogwarts days and then run like the dickens.

Unfortunately, Rose had not gotten faster since Hogwarts. If anything, she'd gotten slower, because it only took Malfoy thirty seconds to catch her, and he wasn't even out of breath. She, or course, was panting like she'd just been in a horse race. As the horse. And not a very good one at that. No, she was that one horse at the back of the pack who you know is going to lose, and it runs like it's trying to flap its legs like wings. The kind of horse that gets out of breath if it chews too fast.

That's the kind of horse Rose felt like every time she had to run away from Scorpius Malfoy.

But either way, he caught her pretty damn easily, with one hand firmly gripping her bicep. And knowing that resistance was futile, she went along with him past the front desk, into the elevator and up to the top floor of the building, which was one gigantic office.

Seriously. The whole top floor of the building was just an office suite. There were a few doors to the right that looked like they led to restrooms. And one door slightly cracked that looked like a private potion room. But other than that, the whole place was a large office room. There were floor to ceiling windows on three sides, shiny black floors, and a huge desk area to the far left. It housed a large wooden desk, several file cabinets, and owl perch, and two comfortable looking black leather chairs facing the desk.

Immediately to Rose's left was what she assumed would be her area. It had a little folding table and no chair. There was a moldy coffee cup on the table.

Malfoy let go of Rose and went straight to his desk. He sat down in a ridiculously oversized office chair and scribbled out a note. Folding it up, he flung it into the air and didn't bother to watch it fly away toward the elevator and down towards the rest of the building. Instead, he was already writing another note and folding it up.

Rose stood awkwardly by the elevator, waiting for Scorpius to notice her presence.

One minute passed. Two. Three.

It took a solid six and a half minutes for Rose to realize she was being an idiot. Just because Faulkner made her stand around and wait for his every whim did _not_ mean she was going to be doing that from now on. Maybe this new job was going to be a good thing. Maybe she could start over here.

But as soon as she turned to go, Scorpius said, "Where do you think you're going?" and Rose knew she was not going to be starting over. She froze and turned back around to face him, "Nowhere."

Something flashed across Scorpius's face, but Rose wasn't going to over analyze it. No, she was apparently going to cower in lower-level employee fear until quitting time. Scorpius clapped his hands together and said, "Right. We've got things to do."

* * *

Rose Weasley was so fucking done with her new job that she could have been the CEO of a company dedicated to the doneness of all employees everywhere.

When Malfoy had said they had things to do, he really meant 'wow, Weasel Queen, I hope you're ready to sweat because it's time for you to do some fucking work'.

First, Rose had to go find an empty desk from storage (which was housed in the basement of the building. Four stories underground). Then, she had to levitate the desk up to Malfoy's office. That wasn't too bad. The real issue was that Malfoy wanted her to arrange the desk manually. No magic allowed. Because he insisted that Rose wouldn't be able to get the desk in the exact right spot if she didn't physically shove it around a bit.

So Rose had pushed the desk around for an hour and a half before Malfoy decided where it should go. Then Rose had repeated the process with two waiting room chairs. And a coffee table. Then she'd nipped out to buy magazines for the coffee table. Then she'd had to figure out a way to build a frosted glass partition between her office area and Scorpius's (she'd been allowed magic for this, but only after she threatened to drop the glass and use the shards to disembowel Scorpius.).

Then, and only then, had she been allowed to figure out how the fuck she was supposed to run his schedule. That had taken longer than she wanted to admit. So long, in fact, that Scorpius had gotten frustrated and done everything himself while Rose watched. It was really quite simple, in a way too fucking complicated kind of way.

First off, Scorpius had dug around in a box until he found a day planner. A very dusty day planner. Then, he'd written in all his appointments by hand. Then, he crossed some out, sent some owls, and rewritten the crossed out appointments. He'd sent one owl to some bloke named Richard and cancelled an appointment, only to have to send another owl to reschedule that appointment on a different day. He'd cancelled an order of flowers for one woman and sent the same arrangement to another. He'd owled his mother and told her he wasn't coming to dinner. He'd tossed her responding Howler down the elevator shaft (Rose swore she heard somebody screaming on a lower level). Finally, he'd tried to send an owl the Neville Longbottom, only to suddenly decide that a visit in person was a better idea. So he'd nipped into the Floo and headed briefly off the Hogwarts. From there, he'd needed Rose to come by with an enlarged bag to carry all the samples in. Then he'd made her fly back on a broom while he himself Flooed.

All in all, it was ridiculous. He was, without a doubt, one of the least organized people Rose knew. If she was honest, she'd have to admit that she thought he shouldn't be a Quidditch player _or_ a Potioneer. He was much too dangerous. But of course, that was where she came in, as he so often reminded her.

"Weasel Queen, that's where you come in. I can't be organized if no one is busy doing to organizing, now can I?"

She'd almost slapped him. The only thing that'd stopped her was the knowledge that he could have her back in her shitty publicist job within the hour. So instead, she'd spilled tea on his day planner. Which he made her dry, then throw out and rewrite.

Overall, it was a pretty shitty first day on the job.

* * *

Quitting time came not a moment too soon for Rose, but of course, her job was far from over. How could she have been so naive as to think Scorpius Malfoy, Bastard Boss Extraordinaire, would let her get away so easily?

"Weasel Queen, you really ought to stay here and organize your desk. I can't have disorganized, messy people crowding up my office or running my schedule."

The smirk on his face was enough to destroy Rose's resolve to stay civil. She took a deep breath. The look on Scorpius's face shifted from smug to slightly concerned. She clenched her fists, and he looked down right terrified. By the time she opened her mouth, he was at the elevator, pushing buttons, but it was too late.

"YOU GIGANTIC LIMP-DICKED ASSNOODLE!"

Scorpius, though braced for some horrendously entertaining insult had to admit that he had been unprepared. He swallowed a snort as Rose continued, "HOW FUCKING DARE YOU TELL ME TO GET ORGANIZED, YOU PIECE OF MESSY FAIRY VOMIT?! YOU'RE A DISGRACE TO WIZARD-KIND! NO ONE SHOULD BE MAKING POTIONS OR RIDING A BROOM WHEN THEY CAN'T EVEN GET THEIR OWN SCHEDULE SORTED!"

"Well, now, that's not quite-"

"AND FURTHERMORE, IF YOU THINK I'M GOING TO PUT UP WITH THIS, YOU HAVE GOT ANOTHER THINK COMING! I AM FED UP WITH THIS SHIT, AND I'M LEAVING! GOOD DAY, YOU MONSTROUS BOIL!"

She stormed past him and thanked her lucky stars the elevator doors opened when she needed them to. Finally, something was going her way!

Until Scorpius stepped into the elevator with her.

And let the doors close.

They made it halfway down to the ground floor before Scorpius muttered, "I can't believe you called me limp-dicked."

"That's what you got out of that? Never mind that I quit, all that matters is I insulted your frail masculine ego?"

Scorpius was silent for a moment. Rose could not believe her luck. Had she actually won an argument? No, of course not. Because Scorpius very calmly reached out, pushed the 'stop elevator' button, and leaned against the closed doors.

"You did not quit."

"I think I fucking did, Malfoy," Rose had no clue where this courage was coming from. She could only assume it was a huge backlog of Gryffindor idiocy that had been building up for years.

Scorpius ignored her, "I don't accept your resignation."

"Too fucking bad," she reached over and pressed all the buttons she could reach, "Now show me how to get off this fucking elevator."

"Careful Weasel Queen. It's not good to curse out your boss," Scorpius's voice was much, much closer than it should have been. Rose shuffled closer to the buttons and tried to block out his presence completely.

"Here's what's going to happen, Weasley. You're going to show up to work tomorrow, you're going to be a very good personal assistant, and that's all," his voice had gone from just low to low and threatening.

"Why?" She refused to turn around. She was not going to let him see that she was scared.

"Because I said so."

"I-I meant why are you doing this?"

The stutter changed something. Rose heard Scorpius swear under his breath and she felt him step away from her. When she finally turned around, he was in the opposite end of the elevator, staying as close to the wall as possible. He looked even more rattled than Rose felt. But just as quickly as she noticed it, he was fine again.

"I have my reasons for everything, Weasel Queen. Maybe I'll tell you when you explain why you were working for an asshat like Faulkner."

Rose scowled and turned away from Scorpius, poking at the buttons until the elevator lurched downwards. Neither of them spoke again until they were walking out the front doors and Scorpius said, "See you tomorrow Weasel Queen."

"You really won't, Malfoy."


	4. Chapter 3

Rose Weasley was tired.

Well, she was more than that, including but not limited to, fed-up, grouchy, hangry, annoyed, sore, and many, many others. But mostly she was tired. Why? Because she had been working for Malfoy Inc. as personal assistant to one Scorpius Malfoy for exactly three weeks, two days, and seven hours. In those three weeks, she had had exactly one day off, and the only reason for that break was because she had missed the Muggle flying contraption that was supposed to take her to Paris to take notes for Malfoy at a Muggle conference. Because for all his faults, Scorpius Malfoy was very interested in forming business relationships with Muggles. But boy, had Rose paid for that day off.

 _The first text (an ingenious Muggle invention which Rose was quite fascinated with) arrived shortly after noon, the time her flight was set to land in Paris._

 **"Weasel Queen."**

 _Rose physically cringed as she answered, "Malfoy."_

 **"Guess where I am."**

 _"Paris?"_

 **"Don't be coy. Where do you think I am in the vast metropolis of Paris?"**

 _"Um….sightseeing?"_

 **"Don't test my patience."**

 _"At the conference."_

 **"Wrong! I'll tell you where I am. I am sitting in the back of my stupid, ludicrously overpriced Muggle car, with my Muggle chauffeur who doesn't speak any bloody English, at the stupid Muggle airport, watching the plane you were supposed to arrive on refuel for its return flight to London."**

 _"Oh."_

 **"'Oh' is correct, Weasel Queen. Mind telling me why you are taking so long to exit the facility when I told you not to bring any baggage to check because we wouldn't be staying overnight?"**

 _"Well, um, I'm sort of not exactly **at** the airport."_

 **"…"**

 **"Am I to assume you caught an earlier flight and are waiting patiently at the conference, schmoozing with the Muggles?"**

 _"Not exactly."_

 **"So then, where, _pray tell_ , are you"**

 _"…at the office. In London."_

 **"Why"**

 _"I overslept and didn't understand the Muggle money or ticket or customs of boarding procedure."_

 **"Any other excuses?"**

 _"No sir."_

 **"Go home Weasley. We'll discuss this when I return."**

Rose had shuffled home, dreading the conversation that was bound to happen the next day. But, of course, she hadn't even had that long to prepare, because at eleven that evening, a sharp set of knocks on Rose's front door had woken her up.

 _Wrapped in her housecoat, Rose had opened the door a crack to see a very agitated Scorpius Malfoy. He looked, in Rose's humble opinion, like shit. Which never happened, ever. She was so shocked by the sight, in fact, that she forgot to close the door before he saw her._

 _"Weasel Queen, are you going to let me in or are you going to gape at me like a dead fish all night?"_

 _Rose let him in. He didn't look around much, just went straight to Rose's couch and sat down, leaning his head against the back of the couch and closing his eyes. Rose didn't really know what to do. Luckily, Scorpius seemed to remember where he was before Rose was really forced to do anything._

 _"You missed your flight today. I could fire you for that."_

 _Rose didn't answer. Scorpius continued, "You didn't even try to give me a convincing reason for missing."_

 _Rose was still standing beside the door, hands clasped together. She was fully prepared for Scorpius to fire her and leave. But he sat up and rested his elbows on his knees, studying her, "Why not?"_

 _Rose shrugged, "It was my mistake."_

 _"You could have easily blamed it on me for not telling you how to use Muggle transportation. You could have blamed it on me for not telling you why we need this Muggle deal. There's a thousand things you could have blamed."_

 _"It's not my place to question or accuse the boss."_

 _Scorpius cracked a grin that looked pained, "You're not reacting the way I had hoped you would."_

 _"What would you like me to say?"_

 _All pretense of humour dropped off his face, "I want you to yell at me. I want you to tell me it was my fault you missed the flight. I want you to complain that I'm demanding too much, that I'm working you too hard."_

 _"Why would you want that, sir?"_

 _Scorpius stood up and paced in the small living room, agitatedly, "Stop with the 'sir' bullshit. You would never call me 'sir' when we were in Hogwarts."_

 _"We're not in Hogwarts anymore."_

 _He paused, "That's the point. Something happened to you. You're different and not in a good way. You're so…defeated."_

 _"I don't think this is a conversation I should be having with my boss."_

 _He turned to face her, "What the fuck is going on Rose? Who the fuck are you?"_

 _Rose didn't know why she got angry at that. Maybe it was because she'd spent so much time asking herself the same thing. Maybe it was because she was overtired and annoyed at herself for being such a doormat, but she was going to latch onto him insinuating that she didn't even know who she was, "Who are you to ask me who I am? Who the fuck are you to come into my house and tell me something's wrong with me? We hate each other! We have since Hogwarts! And not because I wanted to, no way. You started this whole thing when you turned my hair blue and then told me I was stupid on the train to school!"_

 _For some demented reason, Scorpius was smiling, "You remember that?"_

 _Rose was even angrier than before. How dare he be happy while she was fuming, "Of course I do! You were such an arrogant prick who thought he was better than me just because he knew some dumbass spell for turning things blue!"_

 _"If I recall, you turned my entire head Gryffindor red the very next day and no one could figure out how to reverse it."_

 _"Not the point! The point is that you don't know me, and I hate you, so don't you come in here and tell me how I should be acting or that I've changed!"_

 _Scorpius stopped smiling, "You don't have to like me for me to know something is wrong with you."_

 _"There's nothing wrong with me!"_

 _"Yes there is! You're such a doormat! And you certainly didn't use to be! I'm wondering, in a perfectly natural way, what the bloody fuck happened!"_

 _Rose felt something bubbling up in her. Maybe it was repressed anger from being a doormat for Faulkner. Maybe it was regular old anger from Scorpius just continuing to be a pest. Maybe it was anger at herself at the fact that she knew she was being a doormat. It might even have been a bit of gas. The point was, Rose was tired of this shit. So she blew up._

 _"I SAID 'THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH ME' YOU IGNORAMUS! I'M NOT A PUSH OVER! AND EVEN IF I WAS, I'D BE NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS! YOU HATE ME, OKAY? AND I HATE YOU, SO JUST STAY OUT OF IT, OKAY?!"_

 _"You're been irrational."_

 _Rose's voice raised another decibel, "I AM_ ** _NOT_** _! DON'T YOU DARE TREAT ME LIKE MY FEELINGS ARE INVALID AND MY OPINIONS MEAN NOTHING! DON'T EVER TRY TO TALK DOWN TO ME AGAIN!"_

 _"Rose, wait, I didn't-"_

 _"OH SAVE IT, I'VE HEARD THEM ALL! AND I'M TIRED OF YOU TREATING ME LIKE SHIT, GOT IT?! I'M DONE WITH YOU TREATING ME LIKE I'M AN IDIOT AND YOU CONDESCENDING ME ALL THE TIME! I'M TIRED OF YOU TELLING ME I DON'T MATTER, GOT IT FAULKNER?!"_

 _Dead silence. Excruciatingly silent silence. Rose tightened her robe around herself and half-whispered, "I think you should go. Now."_

 _Scorpius didn't answer. When Rose managed to force her eyes up from the floor, he was staring at her with the coldest, hardest expression she'd ever seen on his face, even during their years at Hogwarts. She took a step back._

 _"Weasley, you better tell me right now what sorts of thing Faulkner used to say to you."_

 _"Nothing. It's no big deal. Get out."_

 _Scorpius had silently glided to the front door and left. Rose had poured herself a stiff drink and worried about the potential backlash all night._

Work the next day had been no better. In fact, it kick started the beginning of two long weeks of silent tension during which Rose avoided as much contact with Scorpius as she could, and Scorpius stared at Rose a lot. Rose did not like the staring. It felt like he was trying to figure her out, which was plenty uncomfortable. But the worst part was it felt like he was getting mighty close to the correct answer. But as the weeks went by and Scorpius didn't bring up that unfortunate night at her flat, Rose settled into an uneasy peace.

It was that easy peace that a certain Ms. Giselle Farland shattered.

Rose arrived to find what looked like literally hundreds of letters stacked up on her desk. Most of them were flower-scented. Some of them were shaking like howlers about to go off. Very few of them looked like they contained actual letters that concerned Scorpius's company. In short, it was not the best way to start her day. Add to that losing streak the fact that while Scorpius Malfoy was not at his desk, a leggy brunette with a very, very short dress, was.

She was perched on the edge of the huge dark desk, fixing her lipstick in a compact mirror when the elevator doors closed behind Rose. The sound alerted her to Rose's presence and her head shot up, dark eyes narrowing as she took in Rose's five foot, seven inch frame in a plain black blouse and black skirt that reached her knees. The look in the brunette's eyes was enough to tell Rose that the pleasant ding of an elevator was what the closing doors of hell sounded like.

"You're not Scorpius."

Rose shook her head mutely. It was as if she kept quiet, the sleeping bear in the brunette's expression might stay asleep.

"Where is he?"

Rose shrugged. Not a total lie. She imagined he was on his way to the office, but she didn't really know that for sure if he was actually on his way.

"When will he be here?"

Rose looked pointedly at the clock, trying to convey that he was already late. The brunette seemed to think this gesture meant that there was time to get some intimidation in. The compact snapped shut and disappeared into a tiny handbag.

"And who, exactly, are you?"

Oh no. A direct question. Rose couldn't get out of this one, "I'm, um, Rose Weasley."

The brunette stood up from her seat on Scorpius's desk and circled Rose slowly, "Are you? I couldn't tell. I thought the Weasleys were supposed to be...chicer."

Rose paused. She didn't quite like what the witch was insinuating. Plus, Rose knew she looked amazing, as usual. So she simply said, "Chic doesn't mean the same thing as slutty. In fact, I was under the belief that it's far more admirable to wear professional work attire to an office than club clothes," Rose eyed the tiny black dress the brunette was wearing.

The brunette's face pinched, "This _is_ professional attire."

"For what job? Because I wasn't informed that Mr. Malfoy was receiving any sort of stripper-gram today. That's _next_ Monday."

Pinch-Face glared even harder at Rose, "And what would you know of Scorpius's schedule? Aren't you just a coffee wench?"

Before Rose could respond with another choice observation, this one about where Pinch-Face could shove her coffee, someone else spoke up, "She would know quite a bit about it, Giselle. She's my new assistant."

Rose tensed up as Scorpius walked passed her towards his desk. Both Rose and 'Giselle' stayed still until Scorpius settled into his chair and put crossed his arms over the desktop, "What are you doing here Giselle? Who let you in?"

The questions were asked in a somewhat friendly tone, but his eyebrows were furrowed and his jaw was clenched. Rose swallowed and hurried off towards her desk, behind the safety of the frosted glass. If she was lucky, Scorpius didn't hear her tell Pinch-Face that the stripper-gram was coming next Sunday. She was pretty sure that wasn't a very professional thing to say to a guest, even one who was as unpleasant as Pinch-Face.

As soon as Rose thought that, Pinch-Face came storming out past her, slammed her hand against the button of the elevator, and screamed back towards Scorpius, "Of all the pompous, idiotic ideas, that one takes the cake!"

It would have been a triumphant exit, and one Rose would have probably done herself a few years ago, except the doors of the elevator didn't open. Didn't even budge. There wasn't even a sound or light to indicate the elevator was moving at all. Pinch-Face turned to Rose and tapped her foot.

Rose was just getting out of her chair when Scorpius drawled, "Sit down. Giselle has something to say to you."

When Rose tried to sneakily crane her neck to see him, he hadn't even moved from his desk, and he wasn't looking at either of them.

Giselle scoffed, "I most certainly do not. All I am doing is waiting for your Merlin-forsaken elevator to function properly, and if it won't, I should think it's your precious secretary's job to fix it!"

"Don't be dull, Giselle. You're in a magic building. The elevator won't work for you until I bloody well feel like making it work for you."

Pinch-Face rolled her eyes, "If your elevator isn't working, your employees aren't going anywhere either. You're slowing down production to make me _apologise_?"

Scorpius didn't flinch, "Yes."

Dead silence. So quiet, in fact, that Rose was sure both Scorpius and Pinch-Face could hear her heart pounding. Pinch-Face turned a brilliant maroon colour, and Rose couldn't tell if it was fury or embarrassment.

Scorpius continued writing his notes. He sent an owl. Not once did he look up from his desk. Rose slowly sat down and got back to writing formal invitations to various plant suppliers (there was a convention coming up to discuss the current trade deal between the potioneer aspect of Malfoy Inc. and its organic suppliers). Giselle pouted next to the elevator.

Five minutes passed. Ten.

"Iapologise." The words were rushed and mumbled quietly.

"I'm sorry Giselle, I don't think Miss Weasley heard you properly."

"I apologise."

"For? Be specific Giselle,"

"I apologise for my rude comments. They were uncalled for."

"Very good. You may go." The elevator doors opened immediately. Pinch-Face gave Rose such a poisonous look that Rose couldn't help by murmur, "Thanks Pinch-Face. I'm sorry, too. For the stick up your ass."

The elevator doors closed on the very indignant-looking Pinch-Face. Rose could have sworn she heard Scorpius chuckling behind her. It felt good, but scary. Very, very scary.

* * *

Rose Weasley walked into the apartment she shared with Lily, saw a framed poster of Scorpius Malfoy holding the Snitch after having won last year's World Cup, and promptly burst into tears. Lily, who was working on finding something edible in the kitchen came hurrying out, muttering.

"Oh bugger, fuck, shit! What happened Rose?"

Rose was crying too hard to answer. Which wasn't really like her. She liked to think she was made of tougher stuff than this. But her day had really, _really_ sucked. So she let Lily lead her into the living room and sit her down on the couch. She also accepted the mug of steaming tea that Lily brought out of the kitchen in an effort to feel useful (Lily really didn't know what to do when Rose cried. No one did).

Lily awkwardly perched on the cushion beside Rose and rubbed circles on her back, "Should I get Albus? Or Fred? Or, um, chocolate? Would that help maybe?"

Rose shook her head, still crying so hard that she was practically hyperventilating. She kind of managed to huff out between bouts of tears, "Scorpius…Malfoy."

Now, in Rose's defense, she had meant to tell Lily that Scorpius Malfoy had come along and had the audacity to do something nice for her. But, of course, since she was crying super hard, all she managed to say was his name. Which was enough to freak Lily the fuck out.

"What?! What about him? Did he hurt you? I'll mess his face up, and then I'll only drool over him a little, I promise!"

Rose shook her head, so Lily tried another approach, "You wanna…..talk to him?"

Rose vigorously shook her head.

"You wanna…..kill him?"

Rose laughed a tiny bit and nodded. Lily looked very proud of herself for guessing correctly. Rose took a deep breath and held it in for a second, trying to stop crying.

"Sorry…sorry for coming home like that."

Lily patted her on the shoulder, "It's okay. We all have rough days. But don't think that gives you a free pass to get out of telling me what the matter is. You've been kind of weird for months. It's high time you tell me what the fuck is going on. Now let's go get take out."

It took Lily two full containers of dim sum and six whole egg rolls to convince Rose that she did in fact have to spill her feelings.

At the end of Rose's story about Pinch-Face and Scorpius demanding an apology, Lily sat in silence for a moment. Then, "Why the fuck are you crying?"

"Because he did something nice! He's not supposed to be nice to me! What if he's being nice because there really is something wrong with me and he feels like he can't be mean to someone who's so messed up?"

"That's literally the dumbest thing I've ever heard. A bloke does something nice, actually, he does something that's _decent,_ and you start bawling your eyes out about being messed up? What the fuck is going on with you, Rose?"

"Nothing. This is a normal reaction!"

"It isn't, and you know it!"

"Well, you know. Stuff's been weird for me for a while."

"Yeah, ever since you and Faulkner opened the storefront together. And you still won't tell anyone why! And since then, you've been so volatile and miserable!"

"This has nothing to do with Faulkner."

"Yes it does! It totally does and it's time you told someone what the fuck he said to you to turn you into such an emotional pushover! Especially when the Rose from three years ago wouldn't have hesitated to send the Weasley boys on Faulkner's tale for being an arse!"

"He just, he kind of talked down to me a lot. Told me I was being immature a lot. And I guess he was right. So I tried to...grow up. Cause he was very convincing while making his points."

Lily looked very troubled, "What do you mean, 'convincing'?"

"I don't...I don't really want to talk about it."

"I can promise you, Rose Jean Weasley, we're definitely going to talk about it. Whether you want to or not. And we're going to talk about it _now._ "

* * *

 _Bit of a cliffhanger, I know. But I promise we'll find out what kind of past Rose has with Faulkner in the next chapter. Also, I'm thinking it'll be in Scorpius's POV. Thoughts?_


End file.
